Monday, June 29, 2009

I am having a huge 4th of July inventory clearance sale, in my Etsy store. Buy one item get 20% off, buy two items get 25% off total order, plus free shipping. Hurry sale ends July 6th at midnight. Payment with Paypal, and did I mention free shipping! Go to http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6007466 to see all my great items. Be sure to check out the 14k gold blue diamond ring. Christmas is coming, layaway now.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Are you a July baby? Then you are the proud recipient of having the Majestic Ruby as your birthstone. One of the most coveted, and expensive gemstones in the world, and only one of 4 gemstones considered a Precious Gemstone. Watch this short video, and learn all about your birth stone. My son's birthstone is a ruby, as is my husband. My daughter is an emerald. I am the only one that has a reasonably affordable birthstone with a peridot.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I recently found this sterling silver semi mount from one of my favorite Ebay sellers. I have been looking for a setting to put a pear shaped smokey quartz into. I wanted pink gemstones, but that has been difficult to find. I did find this lovely one with orange sapphires, as the accent stones. I think a lovely chocolate smokey quartz would look awesome in there. What do you think? I can not wait to get it.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Fathers Day to all Dads, everywhere. I love the graphic below, it has a lot of meaning. The ring shown is a Mandarin Garnet cabachon, gents ring, size 9, nugget syle, sterling silver. Mandarin Garnet is one of the more rare finds in the Garnet family. It is natural in color, with no enhancements, or treatments. It is fire orange in color, and has a hardness of right about 7, on the Mohs Hardness Scale. If anyone is interested in purchasing this lovely gents ring, for the Dad in your life, you can contact me at darien04@gmail.com Price is 29.99 plus 4.95s/h USA buyers only, payment with Paypal. Have a great Fathers Day, everyone.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

This is the coolest video, I have found yet. I had blogged about synthetic lab grown gemstones before. I never knew how they did it though. Now you can know too. Synthetic gemstones are grown using actual low grade gemstones, and high quality crystal seeds which are then grown into say a Emerald, or Alexandrite. They are technically considered to be the same of the natural stone, but perfect without any flaws. Please do not confuse synthetic, with faux or simulated stones. Those are usually made of glass, or plastic, with no gemstone material at all. Watch this video, it is awesome.

Monday, June 15, 2009

So yesterday I got some time to practice learning the beaded bezel technique. I am getting a better grasp of it, but it is far from perfect. I do know I like the smaller beads much better than the larger beads. I like the flexible beading needle much better than the non flexible type. Irregular cabachons are extremely more difficult than an oval, or round. The oval one is lovely, though if you look close you can see my mistakes. It is a Blue Chalcedony gemstone. The other is a picture Jasper, that was given to me in freeform. It has a very sharp angled edge, that was extremely difficult to bead around. The blue one I probably could have added one more row, and the Picture Jasper I wish I had left off a row of the big beads. At any rate, I am getting better, and am determined to make them perfect. By the way to my mom, if she reads this, I told you I could make it into a pendant, without using beads, or making a beaded necklace, so there LOL. So what do you think? Pretty good, or got a real long ways to go yet? I am open to honest educational criticism.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Did you know Amethyst comes in a purplish pink color. It is referred to as Rose De France Amethyst, and is a lovely purple color, with pink hues to it. I believe that is what this gemstone is. There is also something called color change Amethyst, which I just recently read about, but have never seen one in person. Like all Amethyst, it is a member of the Quartz family, natural in color, and has a hardness of about 7 on the Moh's hardness scale. Purple is a color of royalty, one of the reasons Amethyst is one of the most popular gemstones on the market. It is affordable, and can be found in large quantities all over the world. I prefer this color of Amethyst over the deeper, darker purple Amethyst. However, everyone has their own taste, and jewelry should be purchased for the way it makes you feel when you wear it. This sterling silver ring, is a size 5, and is available for sale through this blog for the price of 24.99 USA buyers only, payment with paypal. If you are interested in this lovely ring, please contact me at darien04@gmail.com

Friday, June 12, 2009

My daughter Caitlin, just turned 5. She loves Hello Kitty, and I purchased the cute ring from Avon, some years ago, and put it away for her. It will be a Xmas gift, yes Xmas already, for her. The bracelet I made for her, and it too will be put away for Xmas. It is a pink mother of pearl, and green freshwater pearl bracelet made using wire, and findings. It measures about 4 1/2 inches, and might be still a little big for her by Xmas, but I hope it will fit by then. She is very petit. I hope she loves these, and starts her love of jewelry, and gemstones.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Are you a June baby? Why not learn to make your own birthstone earrings. This short tutorial tells you everything you need, and how to do it. Give it a shot, you will be so excited to make yourself something lovely.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Pearls can last for hundreds of years, if taken care of properly. Exposing them to chemicals, or other harsh materials can ruin them. Watch this short video to help you learn to care for your pearl jewelry. Please be aware you can not use standard jewelry cleaner to clean your pearls, it will ruin them.

Monday, June 8, 2009

If you are a June baby, the Pearl, and Alexandrite are your birthstone choices. Both of these choices, are stunning, and a personal favorite of mine. Pearls are classic, and can be handed down from generation to generation. The next few days I will be posting info, and videos on harvesting pearls, caring for your pearls, and any other interesting information I find.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Kyanite also called Disthene, is a lovely blue gemstone, as pictured. I do not personally own one of these, yet. It is very similar in color to a fine Cashmere Sapphire, or even the blueberry blue Chantaburi Sapphire. While Kyanite is expensive, it is no where as expensive as a top quality sapphire. However, Kyanite is a very brittle stone, with only about a 4 on the Mohs Hardness scale. Because of this reason, it has been vary rarely found in jewelry, but more as a collectors stone. It can be purchased in beads, and cabachons, as well, but they do not have the fine blue color, and clarity of the faceted stones. The most loveliest of stones are currently found in Nepal, but Kyanite can also be found in the US, Burma, Brazil, Kenya, Austrial and Switzerland. I found a creek in Pennsylvania, where they actually mine for this gemstone. I am unsure of the quality of the material, but it is still very cool. It can also be a dark purple color, and does have pleochroism effects, meaning it looks different colors from different angles, and lighting. I can not wait to add one of these beauties to my collection. I will have to decide whether to set it, or just leave as a loose stone. I guess it will depend on how much it costs me LOL.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Have you ever heard of Sphene? It is a fairly new gemstone, rare, and exotic. It comes in a variety of colors yellow, brown, green, and reddish. It has strong pleochroism meaning it looks different colors in different lights. In its finest form, it is a green, yellow color, and it has the fire, and dispersion more than a diamond, in natural lighting. Large stones, in gem quality, are extremely difficult to find. It is a fairly brittle stone, and great care must be taken when setting this gemstone. It only has a hardness of around 5, on the Mohs Hardness Scale. Great care must be taken when wearing it in rings, or bracelets, and it is not recommended for every day wear. Watch the video below to see some awesome examples of this lovely gemstone.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Watch this cool video, to help learn how to identify common minerals, and rocks. I have several more of these to share, so be sure to check back often. They are very interesting, and informational. Some of you may know that I homeschool my children. For Science today, we are learning about types of rocks. My sons writing assignment was to write a short story about finding a new gemstone species. I thought I would share it, as I thought it was really cute.

Yesterday, I found a new species of gemstone. It was like a rainbow, but not like the rainbow of an Opal. It had kind of different colors. Instead of red, it had orchid. Instead of orange, it had macaroni and cheese. Instead of yellow, it had tangerine. Instead of green, it had pine forest green. Instead of blue it had cerulean, and instead of purple, it had violet blue. I found it in a place where people had been inslaved secretly, until 2005. So I named it Slavenite. Sadly, I only found one Slavenite, and so I left, and kept it in my collection box.

Google+ Followers

Translate

Facebook Badge

Add Me

Buy Handmade

Follow Me On Twitter

Total Pageviews

Subscribe To My Blog

Follow My Blog

About Me

As you can see, I have been blogging for quite a long time. When I first started, I thought I would make a ton of money doing paid posts. Ha, that simply is not the case, especially when you are new. Now, after more than four years, my blog is a place to share my life, experiences, and various resources with all my readers. My kids are now 13 and 8. We continue to very much enjoy homeschooling and learning and growing together. We are very active in our church, community, and various group activities. Come and join in our adventure and say hi once in a while too.

Google Analytics

Add Me At Technorati

Privacy Policy

We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you.